this could happen to you!!!!

[jenwin]

From: Humiliated & Bullied for $3.00 on March-27-2007
TAKE LOBLAWS OWNED STORES OFF YOUR SHOPPING LIST!

I went to the Fortinos store on Mall road, in Hamilton with my two year old in tow. While shopping at Fortinos, I picked up a tub of watermelon and put it on top of my stroller. I continued shopping for about 30 minutes and spent about 5 -10 packing my groceries at the self serve checkout. During my checkout I had to wait for a cashier to help with an item that would not scan and after paying with my debit card the cashier came over and signed my bill for $20 cash back.

While leaving my child became fussy, so I went to look for the watermelon I thought I had purchased, to give her some but I couldn’t find it. When I left the store was approached by a woman, saying "Come with me" ... needless to say, I had no clue who she was or what she wanted. She then said “come with me .. you didn't pay for an item” I looked down and saw the watermelon on the hood of the stroller that I had been looking for. I immediately said “You’re right I forgot about it and didn't see it, I'll go back and pay." I was told "she couldn't allow it, I'd had my chance and was under arrest." I thought she was kidding at first and said.. "Come on - it was an oversight and I forgot I had it. Why would I pay for $50 dollars of groceries and not $3.00 for watermelon?" her response ... "Maybe you were trying to save money. I won't talk to you here. You must come to the office. You are under arrest.” I said “I am an honest person. I have never stolen anything in my life." Her response was, "Maybe it's the first time you've been caught. Stop resisting arrest and come with me". I couldn't believe this was happening!

I followed her to a small locked room and was ordered to "sit down while my groceries melted and tears welled up in my eyes.... we HAVE IT ALL ON TAPE!" I said, “you have what on tape?" She advised, “How you took the watermelon and put it onto your stroller." I was not comfortable with the way she was speaking to me. “Give me your Id. You have the right to call your lawyer" she said. I thought, My lawyer? What lawyer? I am guilty of zoning out in the supermarket and forgetting. I didn't hide it. I didn't put it in my purse. I simply forgot. “I can get you a legal aid lawyer” she exclaimed. I couldn't believe this was happening! I called my sister-in-law, as I had promised to pick up her kids for her.

I was held from 12:48 till 4:30. While there, I asked if I could buy milk for my 2 year old as she was crying and hungry. I was told no, and that I wasn’t allowed to purchase anything there. At 3:00 pm my mother-in-law came with the manager and she was so mad! The loss prevention girl told her I was under arrest and they had called the police. When she got angry at this girl, because of her attitude, she was told to leave the store. She took my child with her and called the police herself and was told no one was dispatched to that store, so she asked them to send someone.

The police arrived at 4:30 and viewed the tape. I sat crying and humiliated .They asked the Loss prevention girl "if she didn't feel that I could have just made a mistake”. “Couldn't it have been an oversight "the police asked?” She responded “she had her chance and didn't pay." "Will you be pressing charges against her?" she asked. "No criminal charges” said the police.” Not yet, I'm not finished with her," said the loss prevention girl, Karen as she had spelled it out to my mother-in-law, when she threatened to call the paper. Karen advised “I am going to “trespass her” so she can't come back to any Loblaws owned store for 6 months or she will be arrested”.

The police walked me out and consoled me. I understand that people have to do their job and that product loss is a big issue. I also think that there is a place for common sense and discretion. I was treated like a criminal and made to feel like I had planned to steal the $3.00 container of watermelon, that I had simply forgot that I had put on my stroller. How many times have you walked out and forgot you had something in the bottom of your buggy?

Loss prevention would have been to remind me that I had forgotten something, either by the cashier who had come over to me twice, or by Karen. After all if you are planning to steal something it is unlikely that you would get cash back and have the cashier come over to you. All she had to do was tell me and I would have paid for it, as I had planned, she would have prevented the loss and we would have saved having the police come out and the waste of our tax dollars.

[Tired]

Wow...unbelievable.

Somewhere along the line, we as people have forgotten we are people and make mistakes.

Either that, or that girl took her job a little to seriously.

[Sean]

Crazy story! Seems to me it has cost them more than $3 in labour in order to prevent the "loss" of the $3 watermelon

[sugarton]

I don't mean to call you stupid or anything, but you shouldn't have followed her into that office. Loss Prevention Officers cannot place you under arrest. They are glorified security guards, the most they can do is call the police to get you. You should have stood your ground and possibly even called the police yourself.

This isn't the first time I've heard of the long arm of Loblaws. My friend was hassled by shopping cart bullies at the No Frills on Tisdale because he refused to use a shopping basket for the small amount of items he went to buy (he simply carried them in his hands). They threatened to become physical with him in the parking lot and said if he ever returned again they would "kick his ass".

I never shop at Loblaws chain stores. Horrible company. I prefer Price Chopper, The Barn or Dominion if I'm in the GTA.

[gnilwodsirhc]

Actually, Loss Prevention Officers (LPO) can place you under arrest, they are citizens, just like you and I. It is called a Citizen's Arrest.

I was once a Security Officer and have seen people make mistakes. The problem lies with the intent. More than likely, the LPO had been following you for some time. They have to see slection, concealment and the intent of leaving without paying.

It is the LPO's job to arrest and detain until the Police arrive on site. The Police will listen to both sides of the story, review video surveillance and make their determination whether or not charges should be pursued.

It is also not the LPO's responsibility to feed your children or provide food for your child. I could see getting you some water but this isn't Boston Pizza, they are not waiters/waitresses.

And the response of getting cashback or paying for everything is not an excuse for being absent-minded. I arrested the same people over and over and that was there excuse, "well I have money." Well if you have money then why don't you use it.

This story could go either way, but there is alot of whining and usually the thiefs are the ones that complain most. If they get a soft LPO, maybe the LPO will let them off.

[Clem]

I can understand that if you really just forgot to pay you would be upset by this incident, but there are a number of things you should bear in mind. What I say might sound hard-hearted, but it's not meant that way. I just want to ensure that you, and people who read your post, get accurate information. And in case you're wondering, I have nothing to do with the store and I don't know the LPO, but I've done some work in this area so I have information which seems worth sharing.

First, for an outside observer like the LPO who arrested you, your actions look exactly like a theft -- if you simply forgot to pay, they have no way of knowing it. Their job is to arrest people who appear, on reasonable grounds, to be committing an offence.

Second, "I forgot to pay" is the most common excuse given by people who are actually stealing. Also, having paid for some things doesn't mean you weren't stealing something at the same time -- people do it all the time. The same goes for "but why would I steal this $2 item when I have $100 in my pocket?" And saying that you're an honest person and have never stolen anything really doesn't mean anything in this situation -- just about everyone who gets arrested says it, including the guilty ones. It sounds crazy, but people do steal even when they can afford to pay (including some fairly wealthy people). Not having money is one reason people steal, but it's far from the only one (think of Winona Ryder, a wealthy actress, stealing from that department store a while ago). Not going to length to conceal the watermelon also doesn't prove anything, since theft "in plain sight" is quite common.

Once the LPO arrested you, they had a legal obligation to turn you over to the police. The law simply does not allow for the LPO to arrest you and then let you go. Often the police take a long time to respond to calls about minor offences like shoplifting, but this has to do with police resources, not the LPO. (And please ignore armchair lawyers who try to tell you that LPOs can't arrest you -- the power for a non-police citizen's arrest is right in the criminal code.)

The LPO might not have been as gentle with you as you would hope, but please remember that these folks arrest people all the time as part of their job and they hear the same responses from people time and again, so they can sometimes end up being a little abrupt. I'm not justifying rudeness, but try to understand where it might be coming from.

When the LPO told you that you could call your lawyer and offered to provide you with a legal aid lawyer to call if you needed it, she wasn't insulting you or trying to terrify you, she was carrying out her duties by reading you your rights, as any responsible LPO (or police officer) would do.

The fact that the police didn't charge you also has no legal meaning, and certainly doesn't demonstrate innocence. Police have the discretion to lay a charge or not, and often with minor offences they decide not to. Laying a charge is very serious and often the officer will believe that simply being arrested is enough to teach someone a lesson. Also, charging someone is time-consuming for the officer and, later, for the courts and lawyers, so if the officer doesn't feel it's really needed, they won't do it *even if they believe you are guilty*. They aren't necessarily deciding that you're innocent, they're showing some compassion and preventing wasted resources. You might ask why the LPO couldn't show the same compassion, but she is not the one who decides whether to charge you or not, it's the officer. She can't let you go, but the officer can.

Regarding the trespass notice, stores often have a policy of issuing a notice to anyone they think *might* be stealing. This is a way of preventing losses from thefts that they can't prove in court (and those losses can be substantial). What you have to remember is that the store is private property. Neither you nor anyone else has a *right* to be there. The store is well within their rights to bar anyone from their property for any reason, or even without a reason, just as you can exclude people from your home (and no one expects you to justify your decision). We get used to walking into stores freely, so it starts to feel like they're public property, but they're simply not.

Finally, it's a shame that this kind of thing has to happen to people who forget to pay, but as long as everything is done according to the law then the blame doesn't really lie with the store or the LPO, it lies with all the people who commit thefts and force stores to take a strong position.

[YoYo]

I realize this is going to be an unpopular post but I don't think stores should "punish" shoplifting. I think they should focus on giving the benefit of the doubt to good and regular customers. Bad people will always steal. You can't do a lot about that. But if you create a friendly atmosphere with goodwill, even goodwill that is taken advantage of sometimes, I think you will be more than compensated in the long run. I think stores should simply ask that you pay for any items you appear to have stolen. If you have no cash they should give you a phone and let you find it somewhere. This way the employees can relax and focus on good service instead of developing an adversarial and punitive attitude towards the life blood of the business: the customers. I know people steal. Let them. Focus on good service towards the rest of the public. Have a place that is fun and friendly and relaxed and you'll do more business that will make up for the bad apples.

I met a man who ran a Casino in Los Vegas that institued a "customer is always right no matter what policy." Any complaint about anything resulted in that meal or hotel stay or whatever being comped. Every employee from a maid to a waiter to the front desk clerk to the bellmen had the authority to instantly resolve any problem or complaint. After a year of doing this, the cost was figured out and it was minimal. Sure some people took advantage of the policy but these people do this kind of thing anyway. The fact that all the employees could relax and just serve the customers made their jobs much more pleasant and the bottom line is that this casino thrived during an era when every other casino in town was struggling.

[Sean]

It's tough.. from one point I can see that loss through theft can add up to HUGE numbers (especially for large chains). From another, I can see that treating everyone who walks through the door like a human will encourage them to act that way. I would venture to say that most "casual" thieves (i.e. not thief-by-trade) would shy away from ripping off the friendly neighbourhood mom & pop, but the faceless corporations remain "fair game" to them.

So I can see where you are coming from... perhaps it is the huge, faceless, impersonal air that the corporations project that kind of "asks" people to steal (in the sense that the people don't feel like they are stealing from another human at all).

Anyway, besides all that it's illegal so the stores can do what they like. But I wonder if the bad word-of-mouth generated by one customer being wrongfully accused is worth the savings of catching 10 people trying to lift an avocado?

[Guest]

Theif ! It's people like you that make a joke of our legal system and laws to keep a just society . Maybe now you'll think twice about stealing but unfortunately that's not usually the case , it's habitual .